Living expenses at University- how much?

[Railingsohno]

We’re slightly on the back foot with planning as DS was taking a gap year but has changed his mind and is heading to university instead.

It’s a university in a fairly cheap to live city in England.

His much do people budget for after rent (assuming Uni self catering accommodation)?

Obviously feel free not to answer if it’s too intrusive but I would be very grateful to get some responses and how you worked out how much to give!

[Ocies]

Dd has just finished her degree. Her accommodation was paid for by a fund from grandparents. She took the minimum maintenance loan which worked out at £70 per week (52 weeks) and we gave her an allowance of £150 a month to cover phone and travel home. We bought her a railcard and stocked her fridge at the beginning of each term. She worked during the holidays but not during term time. She has not used her overdraft at all.

[minnieok]

The max loan is about £9200 I think, we make up the difference between her loan plus bursary and this.

[minnieok]

Dd gets £30 per week for food/toiletries on top I should say. This is plenty because she can cook.

[minnieok]

Ps dd1 paid her tuition out of savings and lived at home to avoid loans, dd2 is buying a car and likes holidays with her trust so is taking the tuition fee loan, it's their decision as adults

[lanadelgrey]

Martin Lewis Money website say student loans are basically worth having as when you do begin to pay it off it functions as a graduate tax. If I recall he says also that parental spare cash is better saved up and used for help towards a deposit for first house much further down the line. However horrific the interest seems, no one can ever borrow so easily and on such a lengthy payback terms ever again.
DSA is bureaucratic and a bit slow. DD knew she’d need it as has x2 disabilities and got started early. It’s done through student loans website. They needed a few bits of paperwork written in particular ways, which was slightly frustrating, but her doctors were happy to provide. Once through the admin, the actual assessment which she did via zoom last week was easy and assessor was really helpful in explaining what they could provide. Software available sounds totally amazing - It seems as though she’ll never have to attempt to write by hand ever again!

[Railingsohno]

@lanadelgrey thanks - regarding DSA software stuff.... what laptop does your daughter have? My son needs a new one and we’ve always had Macs but I thought it might be better to wait and get something that will be compatible with any software the Uni provides.

[Needmoresleep]

But again, Martin Lewis is not a behavioural economist. He adds up the figures and tells you where you are best off, but dos not add in factors like attitudes to risk, propensity to save, and satisfaction, on both the part of the students and parents, in having pulled together to spend less and borrow less in order to leave University debt free.

If people just looked at the money, spending pattern for all sorts of things would be very different. People don't consult Martin Lewis over hairdressers, say. They base decisions on overall satisfaction where one factor is price, but there are a whole lot of others.

FWIW when it is all over DS will have spent 10 years at University and DD six. They will then each have a couple of years of either post-Doc research or junior doctoring, plus time then to establish careers. I am glad that they have got so far (6 and 3 years in) without debt. It is quite likely that the time they do start earning properly will be the time when they face the costs of buying a property and of child care.

Not having a lifetime of student loan repayments ahead of them will mean that they have more flexibility to make the decisions they want.

(And FWIW I have never seen a shared ownership property in Central London with more than 2 beds. And have known people trapped in very hard to sell one bed properties with families. The idea of tying yourself into a future housing purchase, rather than try to minimise future "tax", which in London could then limit you to a specific tenure type sounds very strange. At minimum you could be limiting future career progression to jobs outside London only, which again could be costly.)

[MrKlaw]

@Railingsohno we got a mac. should be fine for most software needed for courses. If you need specific Windows software you can install boot camp so you can run windows alongside it.

We chose based on the longevity - from previous experience they should easily last the length of their course and then some, so although expensive they are reasonable value over their lifetime

[Penguin007]

@Railingsohno The uni is not going to provide software. It is done via the DSA. They recommend software, and a laptop which will run it. You pay £200(?) towards the laptop, can pay more to upgrade. Macs may not be compatible.

[Railingsohno]

My husband was telling me he’d read about a young nurse who was left an inheritance and used it to pay off her student debt. Heartbreaking really

[Railingsohno]

Thanks re. DSA- we’ll hold off on the laptop I think. He’s had Mac all through school so he is used to Macs however his course is very essay/reading heavy and he’ll really need all the help he can get regarding software/text to speech etc....We live near an Apple store so can always pop in the day before if we need to!

[Penguin007]

I like them having the loan because it puts ownership of the degree in their hands. They are more invested in doing well. And it is a great leveller - all their friends have one too. I personally dislike the idea of Mum and Dad funding their lifestyle at this point.

However, later in their twenties, we are highly likely to pay deposits for houses. DD is going into a low-paid industry (creative) and is unlikely to pay back any of her loan. DS is likely to pay his back, and we will pay some or all of it at that point.

[bravotango]

Many on here saying £100 per week - I would say that is more than enough to be very comfortable. Mine works 2 nights per week in a restaurant so takes home around £120 per week plus tips, lives very very comfortably on that and saves the loan towards holidays/driving lessons etc.

[boys3]

mid tier , shared bathroom £6500

I hope that's a fully marbled bathroom Presumably fully catered though to justify that price tag to share a bathroom.

[josben]

I have both of my DS’s starting uni in September, and they have £30 left per week after paying their rent from their living costs loan , so we were thinking of giving them £50 each per week to make it up to £80 per week for food, going out, travel etc. but now i’m worried this will not be enough ... :(

[Omelette9]

Take the full loan amount available to students, deduct from it the amount they will actually get. Make up the difference yourself. Or pay for their accommodation, and let them live off the student loan.

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

You say you're not in London, I assume you're in England though?
Student finance is very different between Scotland, England and Wales. For example, her in Wales the loan for fees covers the full fees.
And the loan for Maintenance is aimed to be approx £9250 for every student. The only way our income comes into effect is to determine how much of that amount is a grant and not repayable, and how much is loan. DD is entitled to the lowest grant amount possible, which is still £1000 a year that she doesn't have to pay back.

[BackforGood]

There are some HUGE amounts on here.
My older dd has just finished. We gave her £36 a week, mid Sept to end of June (ie, didn't stop when she was home at Christmas and Easter), after rent (which was inclusive of bills, in her house as well as in halls). She said this was plenty.
We'd take her with her first shop at the start of the year, but all other expenses were hers.
She worked in the holidays, and in 3rd year did manage to get a job at University, but she also ran her own car - insurance, petrol and all associated costs - herself.
I'm not sure what a student is going to do with £100 a week after rents and bills.
Absolutely fine if you have that sort of money going spare, but just wanted to reassure all families who don't have that sort of money, it isn't needed

[BackforGood]

In normal times, the first couple of weeks are expensive - freshers week, and at some universities you pay to join some of the clubs or for a gym or maybe a bus pass.
The first shop would be expensive if you don't provide it, as all the things you replace occasionally (rather than your weekly buys) would need to be bought upfront, from toilet roll to coffee, mixed herbs to ketchup.

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

DD got £3k maintenance per term and her digs were £2k per term. She then had £100pw to get by on and instead aimed to save and tried to budget for £30pw. Which she managed, but she's low maintenance, has no interest in freshers week or going out clubbing and drinking so she has predrinks with the rest in their large shared kitchen, then they go out drinking (and spending) and she stays in. :)

[HazelWong]

@DrMadelineMaxwell - there is more to university life than drinking. Does your DD go out and do stuff? University is a great time to join societies and try new things - seems a shame for her ever to go out.

I didn't go out clubbing once in my time a university, but I still went out several times a week

[InMySpareTime]

We're giving DS £220 a month (£50 a week) plus paying his rent and doing an initial Store Cupboard/Frozen food shop for him. No travel costs as uni in the same city as us, but he's moving to halls.
Took out the fees loan but not maintenance, and in all likelihood he'll switch to a Degree Apprenticeship next September so won't have fees next year.
We might pay off his student loan at that point as it wouldn't be a "graduate tax" in the same way as it would with a straight degree course.

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

@HazelWong Not socialising is the type of girl she is. There's a huge part of me that is amazed she even chose to go to a uni away from home and took that leap.
She lives for her studies. Always has.

It's one reason she has chosen (and we are pleased) to stay on campus again next year, and York allow that. If she had a flat share shed see a few housemates. In digs 12 people share the same kitchen and socialise, which widens her friendship group a lot. Especially as it will be a new 12 in Sept. We encourage her to go out but then she sees the daft mess that some get themselves into and it puts her off.

[DominaShantotto]

@Railingsohno

Thanks re. DSA- we’ll hold off on the laptop I think. He’s had Mac all through school so he is used to Macs however his course is very essay/reading heavy and he’ll really need all the help he can get regarding software/text to speech etc....We live near an Apple store so can always pop in the day before if we need to!

I'm a mature student - but I get DSA (university picked up the ragingly undiagnosed dyslexia that I've lived with through a previous degree, PGCE and life - I assumed it was normal to not understand anything until I'd read it five bloody times!)

Basically once you've got the supporting paperwork you apply for it - they will send you for a needs assessment - which is actually really informal and I found very supportive and interesting (I've got a big interest in assistive technology anyway as I've got a daughter with dyspraxia who relies on tech a lot to get around her difficulties with motor skills and handwriting). I found it quite jarring how I'd gone from fighting with the school SEN system for every single scrap of support - to uni where it was "OK so if you're capable of getting a first - our job is not just to scrape you through - it's to put in place whatever is needed to get you to where you can get that first".

Basically the assessor went through a load of different software that might be of use and then they put together a long report justifying why it all should be needed - and they obtain quotes from three suppliers to get it supplied - then it goes off to the funding body for approval and the suppliers get in touch to sort it all out.

If you want them to provide the laptop you have to pay £200 contribution - the laptop specs are decent enough as a good workhorse computer but the basic models they supply can be a bit irritating - everyone I know with a DSA laptop has had issues with theirs or has upgraded to a different machine over the course of the year. The big issue with them is the weight and battery life - we all end up scrapping for the seats next to the power sockets in lectures! You can pay more to upgrade from the base spec machine when you get in touch with the supplier about your DSA quote.

I got my DSA through later on (as uni picked my issues up) - and so I'd seen all of this and I just bought my own laptop and then the assessor asked for the specs of it prior to the needs assessment to check it would run anything recommended (you can find the base specs online if you google them) and they quoted to supply and install everything onto it and to cover insurance for it for the duration of the course.

I've since changed laptop to a Macbook (because I'm a tech addict basically and they're so shiny) - and I had my licence codes from the DSA install and installed the bulk of my software across myself. I couldn't transfer over Dragon as the version isn't on the Mac, and Medincle (which is a dictionary addon for Dragon, Word etc for medical terminology) - but my screen reading software (I use read and write gold - there's a free trial around to give that a go if you're interested) and lecture recording software (Sonocent Audio Notetaker - can get a free trial of that as well - I had several with different email addresses until my DSA came through) has transferred over fine. The one issue I've found with Sonocent on the Mac which is only really an issue now we've moved to online lectures - is that, unlike the PC version - it doesn't have the option to record from the computer speakers - on the PC version I could watch a lecture on my uni's replay software and just record the audio feed alongside my lecture slides and take notes as I went along - I can't do that on the Mac - I could record from the microphone but not from something playing on the Mac.

I'd recommend getting a play around with free trial versions of software anyway - I think the screen reading functionality of Read and Write Gold is included in the free version anyway. It's also got a great feature where you can highlight text in different colours and then pull all the chunks of highlighting into a Word document. I was like "holy fuck this is how reading is meant to be" when I first used the text to speech alongside reading something - it was that marked a difference! (It also does screen overlay and a reading ruler which I use a LOT)

www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/media/198753/slc-dsa-computer-specification-matrix-november-2019.pdf is I think the current DSA computer specifications to give you some guidance. For what it's worth I'm running most of my stuff on an i5 version of the Macbook Air and it struggles a little bit with lecture recording sometimes.

[HazelWong]

@DrMadelineMaxwell but there is so much out there that isn't just going to be about getting into "a daft mess" ! Student radio, drama, debating, sports, music, even just the student society for her subject if she really has no interest in anything else. None of that type of thing is expensive

Just seems a real shame for her to only socialise occasionally with people in her flat.

I am an introvert and not into clubbing, I still had fun at university!